Ready to begin the second half of its season this weekend, Ohio looks to remain near the top of the Mid-American Conference standings against a pair of MAC West opponents at The Convo.
Northern Illinois and Western Michigan will take on Ohio this weekend, as each team will look to continue its success achieved thus far in conference play.
The Bobcats (12-8, 7-1 MAC) enter the weekend on a seven-match winning streak, four of which were at The Convo, where they are 8-2 on the year.
However, both Northern Illinois and Western Michigan defeated Ohio in the same weekend last year, dealing the Bobcats two of their three conference losses in 2011.
But Ohio coach Ryan Theis is seeking a different outcome this season for the Bobcats, who have won 11 of their past 14 matches.
“We are pretty focused on this weekend in particular,” he said. “I’ve always said that you can really get a full analysis of a team on where they sit after 10 matches. Once you get to 10, you’ve played 10 different opponents and so has everyone else.”
In the first match of the weekend Friday, the Huskies (15-9, 6-2 MAC) will take the court with the Bobcats with the intention of staying perfect against MAC East opponents. Northern Illinois has won its past three matches and has dropped only two of its past nine.
Though the Huskies defeated the Bobcats this past season, they are missing two-time MAC player of the year Lauren Wicinski, who transferred to Michigan State following the past season, when she led the NCAA in both points and kills.
Since Wicinski’s departure, Northern Illinois has averaged 12.9 kills per set, which is more than half a kill per set less than Ohio. Sophomore outside hitter MacKenzie Roddy leads the squad in kills per set and totaled 30 kills this past weekend.
After facing the Huskies, the Bobcats will be back in action Saturday against the Broncos, which feature both recipients of this week’s MAC West awards.
Western Michigan (13-8, 6-2 MAC) also won both of its matches last weekend, led by redshirt sophomore setter Terin Norris and junior libero Lena Oliver, who were named the MAC West offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively.
Norris recorded her 10th double-double of the season against Akron, notching 47 assists and 10 digs, while Oliver recorded 39 digs in the Broncos’ two weekend matches.
Western Michigan ranks within the top four teams in kills, assists and digs during conference play, as does Ohio.
As the Bobcats begin the second half of their MAC schedule, they will look to snap a three-game losing streak against the Broncos.
“It’s starting to show after eight matches that once we get our offense going, we can be a pretty tough team to beat,” Theis said. “We are looking forward to some very tough matches. We lost to these teams last year, and we like the idea of seeing where we are as a program a year later.”
cl027410@ohiou.edu
